St. Petersburg Times Blasts McCollum Over George Rekers Scandal

Anther major Florida newspaper is blasting Attorney General Bill McCollum over the payment of $120,000 to Dr. George Rekers as the scandal now threatens to derail McCollum's bid for governor. From a St. Petersburg Times editorial titled Sleazy Deal Snares McCollum (my bolding):

If the attorney general's office had done its due diligence, it would have discovered that an Arkansas judge in 2004 called Rekers' testimony in a similar case "extremely suspect" and that he "was there to primarily to promote his own personal ideology.'' No wonder that the Miami-Dade judge in the Florida gay adoption case called Rekers' testimony "far from a neutral and unbiased recitation of the relevant scientific evidence'' and concluded "the court cannot consider his testimony to be credible nor worthy of forming the basis of public policy.''

For such worthless testimony in a losing case, taxpayers paid Rekers a premium. After an initial agreement to pay him $60,900, McCollum's office approved another payment of nearly $60,000 because Rekers never signed a contract that would have capped his fee. This is not the sort of sloppy staff work a Republican candidate for governor can easily defend. Arkansas wound up in a dispute over fees with Rekers and eventually paid him $60,000, far less than the $200,000 he billed. Florida taxpayers also deserve a refund — and a better explanation from McCollum about hiring such a discredited "expert.''

BAM! By the way, it looks like McCollum's toadies have completely shut down access to his Facebook campaign page for several days now. Well done, all!